Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, as I said last night, each hospital and each clinic has a contract that is sometimes with Nordion, AECL or with another supplier. Those contracts would be honoured. At this time in the House, I want to give our thanks to the medical oncologists and the nuclear medicine specialists who have worked day and night across this country to ensure this particular situation did not create a medical crisis.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, just for the record, I and my department were informed on Wednesday, December 5.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, for the accuracy and completeness of the record, I am aware of five production facilities worldwide: NRU in Canada; BR2 in Belgium; HFR Osiris in France; HFR Petten in Netherlands; and Safari-1 in South Africa.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  The problem is world demand. If NRU is not operating, everyone turns to the other reactors to meet demand. I believe that the South African reactor is now in a regular shutdown. That is the problem. That is the challenge for everyone.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  I would like to say that this bill is necessary because the situation in Canada and the world is urgent. Some cancer and heart patients will not be able to receive diagnoses or treatment. Canada now has a shortage of isotopes. It is not the same in every province, but I can speak about one case in particular.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I would like to say there is a plan under normal circumstances. I have said before that we were under the impression, as everyone else was, that there are regular shutdowns of the facility for, in my non-nuclear terms, maintenance or double-checking and so on. We were first told that there was an elongation of this shutdown on December 5.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Speaker, I have already said that if there is a contract between Atomic Energy of Canada and a hospital, when there is a request, it will be the responsibility of Nordion or Atomic Energy of Canada to set in motion a process to respond to that request. That is the decision.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  When this comes back, they are going to have to rev up, that is absolutely right.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, right now, because there are no isotopes being produced, the wait times are being extended. But of course they are not expending for the isotopes because they do not exist, so I am not sure how that fits in. The way I would like to answer the question, though--

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, they get lots of money from us, I would say to the hon. member. In terms of the instant issue, which is what clearly we should be seized with, I can say to the hon. member that across the country, right now, not tomorrow or the next day, there is, depending upon the province, depending upon the jurisdiction, a 40% to 60% reduction in the availability of services, whether they be diagnostic services or treatment services.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, of course, this is not our decision. The decision is made by the hospitals, doctors and specialists. If a patient needs treatment, they have the responsibility to get that isotope. There is no national triage system in place. What I can say to the hon. member is that in terms of the coordination among nuclear specialists today in Canada, there is an unprecedented degree of cooperation and coordination among all of the medical specialists to ensure to the best of their ability that those who need the treatment the most are first in line to get the treatment.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. I would advise the committee that I had a discussion with the Minister of Justice and he informed me that what Ms. Keen has said is not correct. In fact, Department of Justice officials are available for legal advice to the committee. The only advice from justice was that she might want to seek independent legal advice over and above the typical advice.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I would like to answer the question about the impacts on health. The situation is very serious. There will be a shortage of resources for diagnostic procedures and treatments. We are facing delays or cancellations in diagnosis and therapy. Right now there is a focus on emergency services and limited elective surgeries, but other diagnoses and treatments are not taking place.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I am speaking today in support of the government's legislation, Bill C-38, to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River. As the Chair knows, the extended shutdown of this reactor has resulted in a worldwide shortage of medical isotopes.

Health  Mr. Speaker, we are working closely with our national and international partners. As the hon. member knows, this is a complicated situation. However, from the day we learned that this was an issue, we have been working with our international and national partners. We have been responsible.